TheWrap Partners With Asian World Film Festival for Inaugural Year

The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) has joined forces with digital entertainment and news leader TheWrap as its official media partner in its debut year. AWFF brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles in order to draw greater recognition to the region’s wealth of filmmakers from 48 countries across Asia, spanning from Turkey to Japan and Russia to India, strengthening ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries.

The festival will be held Oct. 27- Nov. 2, 2015, at Landmark Theaters.

“I created the Asian World Film Festival to fill a void that I noticed was missing in America. There is a wealth of underrated filmmakers from our region that deserve recognition and this festival was designed to champion and promote them,” festival chairman and creator Sadyk Sher-Niyaz said.

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AWFF sought TheWrap as a partner for its role in promoting independent and foreign film from around the world. TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series and strong Foreign and OscarWrap issues have garnered international respect, directly aligning with the goals of the festial.

“Sadyk Sher-Niyaz’s concept in championing talented, undiscovered filmmakers through the awards season is truly a worthy undertaking,” Wrap founder and award-winning journalist Sharon Waxman said. “Partnering with the Asian World Film Festival makes sense as we are always working towards fostering opportunities for foreign and independent filmmakers.”

AWFF’s distinct vision allows filmmakers to have the unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season, showcasing their foreign films submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) for Oscar® consideration, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for Golden Globe consideration and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and recognition. Emmy and multiple award-winning director Georges Chamchoum serves as the festival director (executive and program director of the Monaco Charity Film Festival), Nadine Jolson as director of Communications and producer Lani Netter as the festival’s director of Development and Philanthropy.

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“I love that TheWrap really supports our same passion for independent and foreign films and that this is going to be a great partnership to elevate our festival, especially in its first year,” Chamchoum said.

AWFF will open with a red carpet awards gala on Monday, Oct. 26, recognizing celebrities and well-known foreign talent and filmmakers who have been major contributors throughout the Asian World film community, followed by seven days of films at Landmark Theaters. Throughout the week, the festival will feature expert panels on subjects like film financing, distribution, PR, marketing and awards campaigns, editing for a global audience and more to be announced. AWFF will close with a cocktail party, closing night film and festival awards presentation featuring top prizes for Best Film, Jury Selection and Audience awards include TheWrap’s Awards Special Screening Series and full page ads in the Foreign Film and OscarWrap issues.

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AWFF is supported by patrons from the Los Angeles Asian Communities and focuses on people who love cinema, especially foreign and independent films. The submission period is scheduled to open May 13 to coincide with the Cannes Film Festival and Market at www.asianworldfilmfest.org/submissions.

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